Monthly Archives: October 2015

Blog, In the News

U. Maryland opens call for abstracts for In Play

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Albert Einstein wrote, “Play is the highest form of research.” In Play, a one-day conference, explores play as the principle of innovation and experimentation that underwrites gaming, performance, and other cultural, social, and aesthetic activities. Key questions In Play poses include: How can the study of computer gaming, in line with studies of other cultural forms and productions, contribute to culture studies in the academy? How have embodied performance and play historically enabled possibilities for both freedom and domination, for the making as well as unmaking of societies? How does a focus on play complicate recent scholarship on the global history of experimental art forms?

In Play invites proposals for posters and demonstrations—conceived as tabletop presentations involving any type of media—that investigate the question of play. We especially encourage digital projects that supplement or link to posters, as well as mixed media presentations, performances, games (both digital and tabletop) and research projects. Undergraduate, graduate, and faculty proposals are welcome. Potential interventions in play might include:

Play in literature and literature as play
Playing with gender, sexuality, race, class, or (dis)ability
Mathematical, technological, and scientific discoveries
Adaptations
New Media
Gaming and game theory
Rule-breaking
Playing and Pedagogy
Subversion
Theater and performance
Artistic experiments
Game designs and prototypes, whether digital or tabletop

Posters and demonstrations will be set up as the centerpiece of the conference for the duration of the event as well as, where possible, for at least a week beforehand.

Prizes will be awarded to student projects.

Please submit 500-word proposals or descriptions to inplayumd@gmail.com by 12/15/2015.

Please include poster title, full name, affiliation, contact information, and brief biography (250 words). Please inform us if you require technological accommodation. Any questions should be directed to inplayumd@gmail.com.

Plenary speakers for In Play include:

Patrick Jagoda, University of Chicago
Anastatia Salter, University of Central Florida
Julius Fleming, Jr., University of Maryland
C. Riley Snorton, Cornell University
McKenzie Wark, The New School
For more information, visit our website: http://english.umd.edu/InPlay or follow us on Twitter @InPlayUMD.

http://www.gradschool.umd.edu/newsroom/1086

In the News

Abstract Deadline Extended for the 2016 CUNY Games Festival!

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Attention all CUNY and non-CUNY Gamers! We have extended the deadline for abstracts until November 1st to accommodate additional faculty and student presentations!

The CUNY Games Network is excited to announce the third annual CUNY Games Festival to be held on January 22, 2016 at the CUNY Graduate Center in Manhattan. We will also host a playtesting / game day on January 23rd at a nearby location.

The CUNY Games Festival 3.0 is an exciting conference to promote and discuss games, simulations, and other forms of interactive teaching in higher education. Last year, the first CUNY Games Festival drew nearly 200 educators and students and gained widespread attention as one of the nation’s only conferences devoted to game-based learning at the college level. Currently, the CUNY Games Network is seeking proposals for the upcoming conference on the many ways games are impacting higher education. Conference participants will be able to present with posters, game demos, or interactive presentations. The deadline for proposals is now November 1. Both CUNY and non-CUNY participation is welcome.

For more information, go to: https://gamesfest2016.commons.gc.cuny.edu

Blog

Board game pieces found in settlement built on Roman military fort

Dice design has changed very little since Roman times. Researchers found a gaming piece and die during excavations of the Roman settlement. The remnants of ancient water wells, pearls and hairpins are proof that a group of villagers set up a settlement on top of a military fort in ancient Roman times.

About 1,900 years ago, a group of Roman soldiers lived in a fort in what is now Gernsheim, a German town located on the Rhine River about 31 miles south of Frankfurt. Shortly after the soldiers left the fort in about A.D. 120, another group of people moved in and built a village literally on top of the settlement, researchers found.

Archaeologists have known about the site itself since the 1800s, but the new finding sheds light on its inhabitants and what they did for fun. (An ancient die and game piece were among the discoveries.) [See Photos of the Dice and Artifacts Found in the Roman Village].

Read the full article here